Adjustable ladder



E. C. OBERMEYER.

ADJUSTABLE LADDER.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 4. 1919.

Patented Sept. 14, 1920.

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m m m To all whom it ma?) concern:

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Be it known that I EDWARD C; Onen- 7 MEYER, av citizen of theUnited States, residing at Nessen City: 1 1n the county of .Benzie and State of Michigan, have in- Another important object of the invention is to provide a device including supplemental legs which are readily adjustable and so arranged as to prevent lateral movement of a ladder to which they are attached when the ladder is being used.

Another obj ect, of the invention is'to provide a device which is strong, durable, which may be applied to ladders now in use, may

be manufactured at a minimum cost, and

which is highly efficient in practice.

with the above and other objects in view avhich-willappear as the description proceeds, the invent on resldes 1n the combination and arrangement of parts and in the t details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that, within the scope of what is claimed, changes in the precise embodiment of the invention shown can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the description and whereinlike numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of theladder resting upon an even surface, the dotted lines showing the position of the movable parts when the ladder is positioned upon an uneven surface;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the invention; Fig. 3 is a transverse section through one of the supplemental legs taken on line 33- of Fig. 1. I

In the drawings wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral 1 designates in general a ladder of the well known construction consisting of two parallel side rails 5 connected by rungs 6, while an ordi- Specificationcf LettersPatent. pzetentgd Sept, 14, 1920, a lication fiieci'octob'er 4, 1 919. SerialNo. 328,479. V i

nary support 7 isisecured to the upper end of the side rails. The lower ends of the side rails 4 are joined by a suitable braces, I

which is rigidlysecured'to the side rails'of .the ladder. The brace leg t) 'is' equipped with a pair of spaced bars 10, the'upper ends of which are pivotally connected to the relative top of the side rails'et, so that when the ladder is to beused, the brace leg 9 may be swung rearwardly of the ladder to incline downwardly from .the top of the ladder to engage the ground at a substantial distance from the lower ends of the side rails 5. y

A; pair of vertical series-of notches are provided upon the side rails'5 adjacent the intermediate portion thereof, by securing to each of the side rails'5, a longitudinally eX- tending ratchet bar 11. Abar 12 is piv otedly connected intermediateits ends to the intermediate portion of the brace 8 throughthe medium of the bolt 13 or other suitable fastening means, and extends laterally beyond the side rails a substantial distance. A bracket 14 is secured to a side face of each end of the bar 12 by means of fastenings 15, and each bracket is offset as at 16 to receive andpivotedly connect a supple mental leg .17 to the bar 12 between the bracket and bar l2'by means of a bolt extending,transversely throughthe bar, suppleinental legs 17 and bracket 14.

'The supplemental legs 17 are disposed laterally of the side rails 5 and have their free ends .19 so constructed as to effectively engage the notches ofthe ratchet barsll whereby the legs are inclined downwardly and outwardly of the ladder. As clearly shown in Fig. 1,- the lower ends of the legs extend a substantial distance below their pivotal connection with the bar 12 whereby gee legs may be engaged upon uneven suraces. V

In order to retain the upperends of the legs in close engagement withthe ratchet bars 11, coiled springs 20 areprovided and one end of each is secured to its respective supplemental leg. 17 at a point a substantial distance above the pivotal connection of the leg with thebar 19 while the opposite end When it is desired to adapt the ladder to uneven surfaces, the'supplemental legs may be moved whereby their upper ends 19 notches of the bar 11, the bar 12 will swing to cause the left hand to lower carrying with it the left leg 17. This action will cause the .upper end 19 of the left hand leg to slide or move downwardly upon the left,

hand ratchet bar to engage a relatively lower notch, and due tothe action of the springs 20, the upper ends of the legs 17 will be securely retained in engagement with their proper notches in the ratchet bars 11 to rigidly support the ladder. No adjustment is necessary for the braceleg 9, as it is merely swung rearwardly 7 of the ladder and engaged with the ground regardless whether the la'dder'is supported upon an even or uneven surface.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed is:

- 1. In a device of the character described, a ladder including side rails, said rails having a plurality of notches associated therewith, adjustable supplemental legs pivotally connected with the ladder, and springs'for retaining one end of each leg in engagement with said notches. r

2, In a device of the character described, a ladder including side rails, a ratchet bar secured to each rail adjacent theintermediate portion thereof, a bar pivotally connected to the loweredge of the ladder and extended beyond the side thereof, a supple- -mental leg pivoted to each free end of said bar, and coiled springs having connection 'with the lower ends of the ladder and with each supplemental leg above its pivotal connection to normally urge the upper edge of the supplemental legs int'olengagement with the ratchet bars. 7 V e In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aifi'x'ed my'signature in the presence of two witnesses.

V EDVARD C. OBERMEYER- Witnesses 1 i 7 B. A. STINER, HAZAEL BURKE. 

